Oregon OL Coach A’lique Terry on Cohesion, Injuries and Who is Separating in Fall Camp

On Monday night Oregon offensive line coach A’lique Terry met with media to discuss his unit. The Ducks are facing a few small (er) injuries which Terry discussed with media. Oregon’s offensive line unit remains a focal point of talk early in Fall camp. Just how good is this unit and can it be counted on this season for the Ducks? Terry spoke on how they are progressing so far and much more. ———————————————————— On Making Improvements: “The biggest improvement, obviously, would just be cohesion. Obviously, it’s going to be a new bunch.So trying to get that cohesiveness now, right now in fall camp, trying to find those guys to make the right mesh. And the right pairs to be playing with each other. More often than not, all these guys have played next to each other at some point over the last few years. Other than Michael Bennett, but now trying to find that cohesion so they can go out there hitting on all cylinders.” On Tommy Tofi & Immanuel Iheanacho: “I think Poncho is a perfect example of that. You know, Poncho, when he first got here, he rotated with Steven Jones, and then later on that year with Marcus Harper, and both of those guys had successful careers. Speaking to Manny and Tommy, they’ve come out hitting the ground running. They’re both, like I said earlier in spring, they’re both physically gifted. Manny’s obviously behind a little bit just because he didn’t get here until later, but you can see the physical specimen they are. They love the game. They’re constantly with each other. They’re constantly trying to get more, constantly getting with Coach (Ryan) Walk and the law firm and making sure they get some extra meetings and getting that kind of stuff in now because they know their role could end up being much larger later on down the year. Depending on as much as they put in, it could happen maybe earlier in the year. Who knows? But they’ve done a tremendous job with the amount we’ve thrown at them on purpose, and they’ve done a good job absorbing it, taking it on, asking the whole law firm for questions, and not being afraid to ask questions. I think young guys tend to be afraid to ask questions at times. They’re not in that stage right now.” On Poncho’s Leadership: “I think it’s a credit to the older guys. The standard has been set. Poncho’s got out of his comfort zone. You can hear him vocally at all the practice. You can hear him taking the younger guys under his wing. Obviously, he’s had a relationship with Koloi (Keli) way longer prior to this. But it’s cool to see the big brother, little brother relationship he has with him. But he also has it with Manny. He also has it with Tommy. He also has it with Solo (Solomon Kroeker). He also has it with Aiden Lewey, some of our younger guys in our room. And he’s providing that presence that. He had it before, too, when he was a younger guy, but he’s doing it times 10 for these guys. So I think Oregon football, the dividends it’s going to pay us, we might feel it later on, but he’s done a tremendous job with our young guys right now, and a ton of credit to him for doing so, especially being an older guy. He could easily just be his own, doing his own thing, but he’s taking full heed of being the leader of the room.” On Building Chemistry Despite Rotating Groups: “Yeah, I say there’s blind reps in our world as well because you have like pod situations, you have half-line situations, you have group situations. People might only see it like in team reps and team settings, but there’s times we’re doing things in group settings and individual settings. So those are ways to steal reps with those guys, but also training them multi-faceted, not just training the guy on the left side, training the guy on the right side as well, because he may not get his reps in team for that week. It may be the week after, whatever the case may be, but he’s gotten 15 to 20 of those reps in individual settings and group settings, things of that nature. So you still do at some point, like you said, we’re going to start. gluing it up a little bit more. Once guys start to separate themselves, I think that’s been the coolest part of this camp. We got a lot of guys competing their tail off. Makes my life harder. That’s what I say all the time. Make my life as hard as possible. That’s a good thing.” On Tommy Tofi’s Growth Since Spring: “I mean, honestly, it’s the stuff off the field. He’s done a tremendous job with his body. Still got to get in shape. Obviously, he’s a young kid, but he shed a lot of weight, put a lot of muscle on, and he’s gotten not a complete totality of the offense, but he has a really good understanding of offense, where the rest of it is going to start to slowly and naturally come with repetition and film work. But to see his commitment, especially as a young freshman, I think there was a video on the Internet with him and Manny doing extra work. Like, that’s not for entertainment. That’s how they are every day, and that’s the whole group. They’re trying to find ways to get extra work constantly. So it’s cool to see Tommy take heed to that, but not only worry about football, doing with his eating habits, doing it with going to sleep, doing it with hydration. And I think it’s starting to pay dividends. That’s usually the hardest part for younger guys, trying to move like a pro early because you don’t know how to do it. But like you said earlier, credit to Poncho and our older guys showing those guys the way.” On Mike Cavanaugh’s Presence: “OG Cav, that’s part of the firm. There wasn’t even a question when the situation happened up the road if he was coming back or not. Looked at Coach Lanning like, who know why you asking me? Come on. You know what I mean? It’s really family. And it was cool because obviously to come and have my opportunity, Coach Lanning gave me an opportunity to be with Coach Cav and learn. He’s been in the game for 30 plus years. Been a part of some of the best offensive line units in the country. Me, selfishly, I love it. But our guys get to take heat in that like a mug, man. Obviously the situation was unfortunate up the road, but it was also a blessing for him to go back up the road at a place that he had built so much history at and to be able to get the knowledge, the football knowledge from not only myself, but our younger players being able to get that football knowledge to see how big the game is as far from an offensive line standpoint. I think it makes all our guys have a different appreciation because he’s quote unquote old school. He’s not old school, man. He just loves the game of football, but he loves offensive line play more than anything. So I think all our guys need that. especially in this day and age, man, you need to see some people who love offensive line. I think all the people in our law firm are people who are obsessed with the game of football.” On Dave Iuli’s & Ziyare Addison’s Injuries: “Dave is cooking. Dave is cooking, man. Dave is back grilling. Dave is doing a really good job today at one-on-ones. He’s doing a really good job. He’s done a phenomenal job of getting back and rehabbing, too. So I expect Dave to be around when it’s time for ball to be played, too. And Zaire, I mean, Zaire has done a tremendous job in the weight room. Zaire is probably one of our most explosive players he’s got really elite feet. You ask anybody on defense, he was helping scout team last year. You go against Matayo and Teitum for a whole year, I bet your feet start to speed up. I mean, and he already has elite feet as it is, man. So to see him calm down, to see him trust his athleticism. It’s been really cool to see the jump he’s made since spring as well, because he’s a physical player. He’s brutal. He’s a violent, violent dude. It’s getting him to play with that calm control, and he’s been doing it the last few months. So it’s been good to see him.”